Adult Entertainment to Swing Again

A moratorium imposed on adult-film production in the Southland in response to at least three performers being diagnosed with HIV will be lifted Friday, an industry trade group announced Monday.

The Free Speech Coalition also announced that adult performers will be required to be tested every 14 days to continue working.

"Our industry protocols are designed to be conservative and our doctors support a conservative approach," according to Diane Duke, CEO of the coalition. "That is why moving forward, the physicians have recommended and we have implemented a 14-day testing protocol."

According to the coalition, the change was prompted by three performers testing positive for HIV. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation announced last week that a fourth performer had tested positive, but an FSC statement Monday said there had been no additional positive tests beyond the original three. The coalition also contended the three HIV cases did not originate -- and were not transmitted -- on set.

In addition to the 14-day testing requirement, the coalition announced that it plans to work with doctors and workplace-safety experts to implement a "performer education program."

"We can do more to help our performers learn how to protect themselves, on screen and off," Duke said. "While the increased testing will further ensure safer sets, it is important that we remain vigilant. Going forward, we need to constantly look to both performers, producers and health care professionals to find ways to improve our protocols."

Actress Cameron Bay, 28, was first to test positive, prompting the coalition to impose a moratorium on production. That moratorium, however, lasted only about a week.

Actor Rod Daily, who had been romantically linked to Bay, later announced on Twitter that he had tested positive. On Sept. 6, the Free Speech Coalition announced a third HIV case, prompting a reinstatement of the production moratorium.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which championed a law mandating the use of condoms on adult film sets and repeatedly called for strict enforcement, has filed a workplace-safety complaint with Cal/OSHA against the production company Kink Studios, where Bay worked.